Always
by SweetestSarah
Summary: Turkey has been taken by sickness, he is on his death bed. How will Gupta and Heracles handle this?


"Are you comfortable?" Gupta ask the Turkish man lying on the bed. Gupta does not show his discomfort with the present situation but his voice is heavy, unable to hide everything from Turkey.

"Hey," the man smiles and looks up at Gupta with tired eyes, this friendly soft look Sadik is giving him is making things harder to cope with, "you talk like I'm dying Gupta."

Guptas' eyes widen. Was he honestly making jokes at a time like this? Then his chest hurts when he comes to the conclusion that he is joking to better deal with this. Gupta had been here all along, once Turkey had come down with what the other nations died from. One thing is different from their deaths…they were surrounded by people who loved them. The Egyptian looks around the empty room and a lonely chill crawls up his soul and he feels moisture come into his eyes. Did Turkey feel pain from this? Sadik lay on his death bed, they all knew about it…they just didn't care or even worse found joy in this. Does Turkey know this? Does he feel this lonely? Is the pain worse than anything the sickness is causing him? These questions cause the moisture to overfill and a tear falls from the amber eye. Turkey…no, his friend, didn't deserve this. The man had committed many wrongs in his past, to Gupta even. Yet no one deserved to die alone…so alone.

These thoughts are interrupted by an eruption of coughs, progressing into gags and gasp for air from Sadik.

Gupta cringes at every shutter the man makes as the sickness drains him of his life. Keeping the amber eyes glued to him until he collapse back into his pillows.

"Can I get you something?" he asks with the same monotone voice he always has, though he tries to sound warmer and more comforting to his friend.

"Yeah, you can stop cryin' like a whiny pup," Sadik says, "I am going to be fine."

Gupta looks away "sorry," he says simply and his gaze falls down on the hand lying next to his leg on the bed. It was too hard to look at the pathetic mess Sadik was being now, in denial about his fate…he is scared. The same man he rarely ever saw a drop of sincere fear in, he was always so strong and put himself onto deaths doorstep without thinking twice about it. Turkey would come back beaten, bruised and bloody with a smirk wide on his face. Always claiming death did not frighten him. Now, that he is older and weaker…Sadik knows he is on deaths doorstep again and he won't make it through this time. Gupta coughs, releasing the tension building in his body to keep from showing more emotion through tears. Sadik needed someone strong, and he had always been strong for Gupta so he will repay the favor.

Egypt reaches down and takes the hand in his own and it feels worn and rough from years of fighting and working. These hands had held a sword back in the days of Guptas own mother. Yet here they still were on a man spread so thin on the pages of history he isn't sure how he has not gone crazy. Gupta chuckles gently, well, some say Sadik is crazy already so that is debatable.

"Whatcha laughing at Gupta?" Sadik ask and tilts his head to look at the Egyptian. Sadik isn't able to tighten his grip around the hand, he is too weak. Yet he is able to bend his fingers lightly.

"The past," Gupta responds and looks over at him, "our past." The past was hard to look at too but it was better than the present at this moment in time.

"Oh," is all Turkey responds with. Then he looks up at the ceiling with a frown and a worried look in his eyes.

"What is wrong?" Gupta ask him and rubs a thumb over the hand he holds in his own.

"Nothing," he says and looks away and a slight flush comes to his face. It is good to see that sign of life, there is only one person that could bring such strong emotions in any situation.

Greece.

"He will be here," Gupta says to him, but in truth he does not know. Greece is either celebrating or does not care at all. At least Greece did not come to patronize Turkey. After losing Japan, he doubts Greece is celebrating but he is not here so he must be mourning somewhere.

Greece has no obligation to be here after all of the years of fighting and the things Turkey did to him when he was Ottoman. Gupta would not be able to feel angry at Heracles for not being here, he had right to do what he wished. Gupta knows that Greece does not hate Turkey as much as he lets on though…but he still isn't here so maybe he was wrong about that.

"I wasn't thinking about that bastard!" Sadik growls and then starts coughing again and he groans in pain and feels his chest.

"Calm down," Gupta says to him and brings down the glass of apple juice for him to get a sip off.

After the sip Turkey closes his eyes and he takes a big swallow. Without his mask, Gupta could read him like a book. Sadik was thinking about Heracles and is obviously having a hard time dealing with the fact he isn't here.

"Is there something you want me to tell him?" Gupta ask, deciding to push it. Turkey deserved to die with peace of mind at least.

"Hell no! What are you talking about!" Sadik raises his voice and opens his eyes, they are filled with worry, doubt and anger, "I am going to be fine damn it! I will get up and tell him what I think myself! Even if there was something…and there isn't!"

It was worth a try. Turkey planned on being stubborn and prideful until the moment he faded. If that's what he wants, that is fine.

Then it starts again, it had been happening off and on for a week now. It was most hard to watch and deal with for them both.

Sadik starts shaking with chills, his teeth clattering together and his begs for help start and they wear on the very sanity of Egypt.

After covering Turkey with the blankets that he had been covering him with the shaking still continues and these are the worst he had seen so far. Sadik was getting worse. Gupta is not sure how long he has left.

"P-Please Gupta…help me," he says through his gasp for air and the clattering of his teeth.

"What do I do Sadik? What?" he calls out desperately.

"Come…come here," he manages to say and he would hold his arms out but he is too weak.

Guptas chest is killing him, tears start to roll down his dark cheeks, and this couldn't be end! Turkey can't die in this empty room! Not a fucking friend in the world!

Gupta lies down next to Turkey and wraps his arms around the shivering man and says in a soft but shaky voice "don't die here."

Gupta shuts his eyes tight as he thinks of happier times when he can recall the smile Turkey always had on. Sadik's boisterous laugh that filled the chamber. The air of confidence he had surround him. Sadik was so different from Gupta, though it always attracted Gupta closer. Loud and happy…that's how he wants to remember this man. Not the sad pitiful dying man in his arms. The man who protected him, helped him, taught him and did not mind his own silence and mysterious ways.

It might be selfish of Gupta but says "Turkey…can you do something for me," he looks up into the eyes of the Turkish man from where he lays. Gupta lifts up and puts one of his arms on the other side of Turkey so that the shivering man is under him, now he is looking down at Sadik. Tears dripping from the deep amber eyes, "please Sadik."

Sadik does not protest, he says between shivers "what?"

"Smile for me…" Gupta says and places a hand on Turkeys' cheek.

Sadik looks at him for a moment in confusion and then he nods and brings a smile to his lips for the smaller man on top of him.

Gupta takes in the smile and closes his eyes, keeping the image close to his mind and storing it in his heart as the last thing he will remember of Turkey.

Then he reaches down and touches his lips to Turkeys'. Kissing him tenderly, feeling how dry his mouth is despite having just taken a drink of apple juice earlier. The sickness was taking all he had from him.

The shivering gradually stops and Sadiks' body calms under him.

The kiss is bitter to him, bitter sweet. Bitter because it was the last kiss and sweet to taste the man again. "'Ḩbk"(I love you)Gupta says lifting up from the kiss for a second to say to Turkey and then he brings down his lips and kisses him again. Gupta would kiss him for as long as the rest of eternity lasted for Sadik but there is a knock on the door and he looks up.

Turkey looks over at the door, his face shines with hope and a youthful glow. A genuine smile appears on his face. For a second it does not even look as if he is sick. Gupta chokes out another cough and he whispers again "Ḩbk" he wishes he could cause that sort of reaction from Turkey. Gupta had been here all week and taken care of Sadik and hadn't left his side for long and not once has he seen that face…it made him feel bitter and sad.

"I am happy to see you smile Sadik," is all Gupta says as he gets up from the bed and wipes the traces of his sadness away and puts his own mask back on…he won't make the mistake of taking it off again.

As Turkey had hoped it was Greece "Mrḩbā"(hello) he says and steps aside "Turkey is inside," he looks down as Heracles comes in. Gupta goes to refill the glass of apple juice.

Sadik looks at Heracles and he smiles.

Heracles looks at the smile and it angers him, how can he be smiling when Kiku is dead! Greece knew he cared more about Japan than Turkey did.

"What are you smiling about smelly bastard?" Greece ask

Turkey says "I-" he stops to cough, hacking and looking around for Gupta with his juice but he is still in the kitchen. After the coughing he thinks twice about saying what he was going to. "I just knew you would come visit me, you were worried about me!"

"No, I came to collect that 50 you have not paid me yet before you croak," Greece bites back.

"Well I am not going to croak so you aren't getting any money from me!" Sadik says with his old smirk back on.

Greece feels sick looking at him, he isn't sick! Why is he even in bed! "Get up you old geezer, why are you laying in bed? Are you too fat and lazy to get up now you just make Gupta wait hand and foot on you?"

Turkey narrows his eyes and attempts sitting up but there is no way, the only time he is able to move is when his body is quivering with chills or shaking loose from coughing. Sadik gives up and frowns. Feeling weak and vulnerable in front of Greece was just icing on the cake.

Greece watches him, did he just try to get up? Is it really that bad? No, the Turk is too strong to be taken out by this sickness.

"Aw come on, can't you get up? Stop laying on the act, you are not getting in the EU with this pity party!" Heracles says coldly. Then he notices no one is here, only Gupta is here with Turkey. Of course he deserves this for being such an asshole his whole life! Plus it's not like he is on his death bed.

"I- am not ac-" he growls in frustration and then has another coughing fit.

Heracles watches the other shake with coughs.

"Just shut up Heracles…" Sadik says and looks disappointed about something. Sadik looks as though he lost the most important person to him, he looks even worse than he did when Japan died.

What did the Turk want from him! For Greece to come in here and act like the years of hate between them never existed and he truly loved the man lying in the bed coughing his life away?

"I do not even know why I came here," he turns to leave. Heracles should be mourning Japan anyway! Stupid faking Turk!

"Because I am dying Heracles!" Sadik cries out as he turns to leave.

It chilled him to the deepest pits of his heart to hear the weak cry of Sadik. Heracles had never heard his voice like that. It was always an angry yell or when he was younger the booming voice of the Empire who was his caretaker. Never this weak shaky voice. Heracles turns to looks at him and wishes he hadn't. Sadik is sitting up and leaning on his side looking at Heracles with the most heart wrenching eyes. Pleading and miserable.. Sadik was shaking, it was obviously taking a lot of him to sit up like that.

"I am dying…" he repeats and looks into Heracles eyes.

The olive green eyes that were normally hidden behind a mask were misty with building tears. No…Sadik could not cry…not Sadik.

"Where is your mask?" Heracles ask and closes his own eyes, swallowing hard. Heracles does not want to look into those eyes anymore.

"What? What the hell does that matter? Did you hear m-" Sadik is cut off by Heracles.

"Yes I heard you! You are not dying! The gods wouldn't be that good to me!" he yells in anger.

Sadik grinds his teeth and looks like he is in pain, it could be from sitting up but it looks like a different sort of pain. Was the pain from Heracles words? Greece has said meaner things to him, why was he acting like this now!

"Please Greece…" he says in a weak voice, it shakes with emotion.

"Please what? What makes you think things would be different because you are dying? If anything I should be glad to see you like this you evil bastard!" Greece yells again.

At this point it looks like Sadik is an old worn dog getting kicked repeatedly by its abuser.

"I hope you die! Then at least something good will come from this sickness! I lost Japan! The least the gods could do for me is taking you away too!" more venom comes from Heracles mouth and he waits for Sadik to get up to kick his ass or something. Anything!

Instead Sadik starts coughing again and finally Gupta comes into the room. His face looks almost angry as he places the apple juice to Sadiks lips and he pushes it away until he can gain his breath. Then he takes a drink of it.

"Lay down Turkey," Gupta says solemnly.

Turkey looks at him and nods, what is the point of sitting up anymore?

Gupta looks over at Greece and says "maybe it's best if you leave."

"No, don't make him leave Gupta…" Sadik says still.

Why? Heracles just told him that he wishes he would die! Why is requesting that Greece stay!

Heracles looks at him and then walks over to him "GET UP!" he screams at Sadik.

Egypt just stands aside and watches until Sadik needs him.

Turkey says "I would if I could," he looks scared.

Scared? Now he is showing fear? This is not happening to this demonic rapist bastard! Sadik is too strong!

Greece says "you can!"

Sadik shakes his head "no, I was waiting on you to come…I knew that if I couldn't find the energy to get up to see you…to stop you from leaving me again that I-" Greece interrupts him again.

"DON'T SAY IT!" Greece rears his fist back and Turkey looks up at him helplessly, Greece continues "DON'T SAY YOU ARE DYING!"

Turkey looks straight past the fist and into the eyes of Greece "I am Greece."

Greece brings down his fist and hits Turkey right in the jaw.

Egypt almost lunges forward but he stops himself as he sees the tears start coming down Sadiks face. The man was reaching his end. Gupta feels his own mask falling again as he watches the man take his last breaths. Tears start falling again. Sadik did not deserve this!

Turkey does not fight back as he always does, his head is turned to the side from the impact and he starts coughing and shivering again.

Egypt covers his eyes, he can not take this.

Greece watches the Turk fall apart under him.

The fever starts speaking again as Turkey says in his pleading voice "I am sorry for everything I have done to you Greece…I am!"

"Shut up!" Greece falls to the bed and yells at Turkey "shut up now!" Looking down at the man shivering below him. Noticing the normal strong face has grown skinnier from not eating much this week. The full lips he finds hard to resist are dry and are at a loss of color. The eyes are worn and tired, like eyes that are lacking in much sleep. Tears stream from those eyes. Those eyes…those fucking eyes! Always hidden behind that mask are breaking his walls down now.

"I am sorry Greece…I wish that-" he starts coughing again. The shuttering from the coughing and the shivering is sending his body into spasms.

Heracles wraps his arms around the man to stop the shivering, stop the moving…stop him from dying. Just keep living!

"Greece…Heracles…" Sadik says is almost a whisper.

Heracles says "what is it Sadik?" almost sobbing. Tears are already coming from his eyes in waves.

"Seni seviyorum. Ben her zaman var," {I love you. I always have.} Sadik says and then continues weakly, "if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't make the same mistakes I made...I would leave you alone and watch you grow from a distance. I wouldn't...take your innocence." This memory makes him shake with tears, "I wouldn't interfere with your life." Sadik coughs more and says with as much power as he can, which comes out as a whisper "but I would still love you." Sadik says "Seni seviyorum."

Under Greece the Turk stops shaking…he stops fighting…stops crying…stops breathing…his heart stops beating…and he stops living. Fading into nothing more than pages in the history book. In a room full of his loved ones. All two of them.

Greece shakes him "NO! WAKE UP!" utter terror is in his normal sleepy voice "I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SAY GOODBYE! I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SAY S 'agapó̱!" Greece yells and tears stream down his face and he sobs "IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR!" he screams into the chest of the dead man.

Egypt sits down quietly in a chair and listens to the screams. They seem to come from another world as Egypt leaves this one. Leaving his mind to get lost in the past and to think of that smile that he was able to get from Turkey and the kiss they shared.

Greece looks at Sadik and says "S 'agapó̱! S 'agapó̱!" as if this will bring him back. This is not what he wanted! Greece cries and buries his head into the strong chest, it is still warm though the heart it encases has stopped beating. "I am sorry! I didn't want you to die!" apologizes as if Turkey might be playing some awful joke on him. The man stays still in his rest. "I wouldn't want you to leave me alone! I want you in my life! I need you in my life!" takes his head in his hands and looks into the quite and worn face. "I need you! Don't you hear me! You bastard! You bastard!" Greece lets his head go and prays to any god that is listening "you didn't bring Kiku back! YOU HAVE TO BRING SADIK BACK! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HIM!" Greece gets no response from the quite gods. The last words he had said to this man were that he hoped he died and he would be happy if he did. Greece actually punched him too. Heracles feels whats left of his heart break.

Greece puts his head back and embraces a random memory that comes to his mind.

Greece looks out the window to see a large figure coming down the pathway to the palace. The figure was Sadik in his Ottoman robes. In his hands he held something. What was that? Sadik walks in and calls in his strong voice "Heracles!" Heracles scurries to the voice.

"Yes?" he says somewhat scared and annoyed.

"Here, I brought you a gift," Sadik opens his arms and a tiny white kitten lies in his arm. It sits up and looks at Heracles and yawns "mew" it says.

"Wow! For me!" Heracles looks excited and happily towards Sadik. One of the only times he can remember being happy towards Ottoman.

"Yeah, that's what I said, take 'em" he hands the small little kitten to Heracles.

"You are so soft, I will name you tulip!" Heracles tells the cat and then looks at Ottoman and blushes "thanks…"

"You're welcome kid…" he reaches a black gloved hand over and brushes his hair.

_  
Greece reaches down and touches over the soft hair of Sadik. It is wet from his cold sweats.

Then another memory comes to him.

"S-Sadik…" Heracles said at the doorway, in a soft tear filled voice.

"What?" Sadik was still awake but had just lain down.

"Can I sleep with you?" He says with a sniff, "I had a bad dream about my mom."

Sadik says with a chuckle "yeah."

Heracles climbs up into the bed and gets under the blankets. Curling up to the strong chest of Ottoman. Security overcomes him and all the fear he had of nightmares were chased away by the large man who radiated strength and power. Heracles hears the steady thump of his heartbeat and he falls asleep to it like a lullaby.

Greece lays down his head to the same chest and hears nothing but emptiness. Never will that heart thump again.

Greece sobs and lets another memory take hold.

Ottoman was sleeping late and Greece decided to go pester him.

Climbing up on the bed he sits on Ottomans chest and looks down at him. Ottoman wears the mask he always has on and his mouth is closed.

Earlier today Greece had been to the city with a servant to pick up some stupid silk clothes Ottoman bought him and intended to make him wear eventually.

While he was there he saw a couple kissing.

Greece is curious to what this feels like. A kiss.

Ottoman is asleep and he has lips so why not? Ottoman can be his guinea pig to this experiment.

Greece leans over and places his small lips to the warm lips of his caretaker.

They are sweet.

A blush quickly spreads over his face and he backs up. Greece can understand why people kiss, it causes funny feelings.

Luck for him it does not wake Ottoman up. So he takes his new information and scurries out.

His first kiss.

_  
Greece lifts up from the chest and places his lips against Turkeys'.

They are starting to grow cold and they are dry.

Greece keeps kissing the dead man that he loved so dearly.

Slipping his tongue into the cold mouth. Savoring the sweet taste of the juice he had been drinking up until his death.

"I have always loved you too Sadik Adnan."


End file.
